I am very new to boating and i just bought a 1997 Mastercraft Maristar with the Corvette LT1 engine in it. I am having so much trouble parking it i can't even explain lol...

Unlike other boats this has a V-drive and the prop doesn't go up or down. For some reason when i am approaching my dock as soon as i put it in neutral the boat makes a hardddd left turn so what i have been doing it just coming in with it just ever so slightly clicked in gear and then ram reverse before i crash into the dock (still very fast though for parking, all my passengers always go woah woah woah and then i slame reverse and they're all like "dude!, woah woah woah!, phew! :confused:, i thought u were taking the dock out man!". This seems to be the only way i have somewhat control of the boat while parking it. I see everyone else come into the dock and they just line up and some even turn the boat completely off and the thing just coasts right into the space like a piece of cake.

Is there a certain way, trick or anything i am supposed to be doing to park a V-drive stationary prop driven boat ?

Any help will be appreciated. Thanks

onebadrubi

08-02-2012 12:31 AM

I have learned over the years to come in and work from the right. You only have control of these boats in reverse if you can allow the back in to drift the right (steering wheel side). THis is because the way the prop spins.

If you are approaching a straight ahead dock then just click forward and work back and forth from neutral to gear to get your desired speed.

No real definite trick, just keep trying and take it slow with "all hands on deck" ready to help. Maybe define your docking space so we can throw some ideas to you.

Limpkin

08-02-2012 12:33 AM

When I first started driving V Drive the best advice I was given was to approach the dock from the passenger side at a slight angle (7 clock) slowly and gently go into reverse and this will pull the back end of the boat toward the pier. Another option is to grab a "pier pole"

Good luck, you will get it in time it just takes a while to get to know the process.

Matt7246

08-02-2012 01:00 AM

My dock is kind of hard to explain... I literally probably got the last available space on the lake since i just got the boat mid season and i'm lucky i even found one. My spce isn't even really a space but i'll try to explain it the best i can. It's pretty much a big square dock about a 25' square with two spaces one on each side like a normal dock. The guy i got it from took like a 10' self-made square and just attached to to the front of the dock so it's not even a slot that i pull into i pretty much just pull straight ahead at the dock and have only one side to get off the boat and i tie the front of the boat to the dock nose first using only the front two cleats on the nose of the boat... I really hope i explained it well enough to understand. If you have nay questions let me know...

The problem is that the boat on my right sticks out about 2' longer than the dock and when hit reverse "so i don't crash into the front of the dock" my rear end swings that way and almost hits his boat every time and 2-3 times i tapped it. It did no damage at all but if he were to see how i park the thing every time i'm sure he wouldn't be happy just like i wouldn't if it were my boat in his position.

So pretty much i'm doing all that i can do somewhat the right way i just have to slowly get better and adjust accordingly over time until i master it?

FrankSchwab

08-02-2012 01:34 AM

Yeah, when you hit reverse the rear end is going to swing to the right (starboard).

You're going to have to come in dead slow, coming from the left as much as possible so that when you reverse you have room for the boat to swing right without hitting the other boat. Make sure to put some fenders on the rear quarter of your boat so that, if you do hit the other guys boat, you hit it with the fender.

Couple of things you might try:
When you pull back to neutral, crank the wheel all the way to the right. This will get the stern moving left, which will counteract the right swing that will occur when you hit reverse (The rudder position really doesn't have much affect when you're in reverse). Also, with the wheel cranked hard right, you can momentarily hit forward to arrest a swing to the right.

In your original post, you mentioned that the boat pulled hard left when you put the boat in neutral. If you're just coming back to neutral, this is NOT normal behavior - your boat should glide straight just like every other boat.

/frank

Matt7246

08-02-2012 01:42 AM

What would cause it to do that because when i put it in neutral it definitely glides to the left not crazy hard but decently hard?

mikeg205

08-02-2012 09:39 AM

Hard to explain for the left turn...you should be able to idle in and gently switch from forward and reverse to keep the boat from approaching dock too fast. "Ram reverse?"

JimN

08-02-2012 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt7246
(Post 864572)

I am very new to boating and i just bought a 1997 Mastercraft Maristar with the Corvette LT1 engine in it. I am having so much trouble parking it i can't even explain lol...

Unlike other boats this has a V-drive and the prop doesn't go up or down. For some reason when i am approaching my dock as soon as i put it in neutral the boat makes a hardddd left turn so what i have been doing it just coming in with it just ever so slightly clicked in gear and then ram reverse before i crash into the dock (still very fast though for parking, all my passengers always go woah woah woah and then i slame reverse and they're all like "dude!, woah woah woah!, phew! :confused:, i thought u were taking the dock out man!". This seems to be the only way i have somewhat control of the boat while parking it. I see everyone else come into the dock and they just line up and some even turn the boat completely off and the thing just coasts right into the space like a piece of cake.

Is there a certain way, trick or anything i am supposed to be doing to park a V-drive stationary prop driven boat ?

Any help will be appreciated. Thanks

Go out and find a calm part of the lake and practice- that's what it takes to know your boat and how it reacts when shifting. Usually, you'll need to come in on an angle when docking. When you put it on the trailer, you need to come in straight and leave it in gear, idling. Once it glides on, you can use more power to move it forward to the bow roller or Boat Buddy.

Practice, practice, practice.

east tx skier

08-02-2012 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimN
(Post 864647)

Go out and find a calm part of the lake and practice- that's what it takes to know your boat and how it reacts when shifting. Usually, you'll need to come in on an angle when docking. When you put it on the trailer, you need to come in straight and leave it in gear, idling. Once it glides on, you can use more power to move it forward to the bow roller or Boat Buddy.

Practice, practice, practice.

This!

In a MC, we approach the dock at about a 35 degree angle nice and slow. When you get close enough, but the boat briefly into neutral, then reverse until the stern swings in parallel with the dock.

With our SN, the prop spins the opposite direction. So we come in with less angle, neutral, then reverse, but much lighter (enough to stop forward momentum. Then turn the steering wheel to port and bump the throttle forward to swing the stern gently toward the dock.